Berlin 2014 – scientific programme
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EP: Fachverband Extraterrestrische Physik
EP 3: Erdnaher Weltraum / Planeten
EP 3.5: Talk
Tuesday, March 18, 2014, 11:45–12:00, DO24 1.103
Titan's Magnetotail from Hybrid Modelling and Observations — •Moritz Feyerabend1, Sven Simon1, Joachim Saur1, and Uwe Motschmann2 — 1Institut für Geophysik und Meteorologie, Universität zu Köln — 2Institut für Theoretische Physik, TU Braunschweig
We study Titan's plasma interaction by applying a 3D hybrid model which treats the ions as particles and the electrons as a fluid. As a consequence of the impinging Kronian magnetospheric plasma interacting with Titan's ionosphere, a magnetotail is formed downstream of Titan. The shape of the magnetotail can be very asymmetric with respect to the direction of the convective field and is highly influenced by the directions of the background magnetic field and the velocity vector of the impinging plasma. It is also influenced by the position of the ionospheric density peak which is determined by the direction of the incident solar radiation. We model Titan's plasma interaction during the Cassini flybys T9, T63 and T75, which all crossed through the distant wake of Titan. The ionosphere is generated by a realistic and statistically consistent implemented photoionization model. Finally the model results are compared with Cassini plasma and magnetic field observations from these encounters.